Kaiser's gaze wandered over the lively, ever-changing map in front of him, as if it were a work of subtle magic. The scroll's gentle light, which flickered gently as if it were alive, shone into the carriage's interior, the continent sprawled across the surface in painstaking detail: rugged mountain ranges, seemingly unending forests, and expansive deserts. The ground was crisscrossed with rivers that fed life into places that Kaiser couldn't fathom.

  The sight of a massive mountain range with sharp, soaring peaks suddenly materialized. The map’s focus zoomed closer, revealing a single, towering mountain that dwarfed its brethren. Kaiser's jaw clenched as he realized its height rendered even the greatest peaks to appear insignificant. Avalanches rumbled down its flanks, obliterating the little figures that had studded its slopes as they fought against the pure forces of nature.

  A massive forest swept across the entire continent as the scene changed. Parts of the verdant foliage turned black as Kaiser observed, but overall, it seemed lively and full of life. Wildfires ripped through the forest, causing bizarre beings to either run for their lives or fight back. As they towered over the blazing canopies, some resembled light, their bodies radiating with heavenly energy, while others were deformed and hideous.

  A metropolis in the distant south, depicted in stark black and gray, drew his attention. The walls were rough, and the spires reached up like shattered claws. The map was filled with spikes and skulls, serving as a foreboding warning that the city was encircled. Upon seeing it, Kaiser's chest constricted. It was a cemetery that pretended to be a city, and the atmosphere was one of hopelessness and death.

  But none of it fully registered. They were just details, landmarks he’d study more closely later. His attention was instead drawn to the center of the map, where a city unlike anything he had ever seen sprawled outward in every direction.

  The capital.

  Even from a quick glance, the city was impossible to ignore, as it was placed in the very middle of the map. Enclosing four separate districts laid out like pie slices, it was bordered by a massive circular wall. Like the continent's beating heart, a smaller circle emanated outward from the very core. Kaiser spotted more features as he looked closer. Weak, spectral pictures of carriages, people, and even whole marketplaces flitted across the map, giving the impression that the districts were teeming with activity. He drew nearer, his gaze narrowed.

  Under his breath, he murmured "wait" as he captured an unexpected sight. Faint scribbles, tiny symbols carved within the city's limits, were scattered around the districts. His first impression was that they were merely ornamental, an artistic flourish on the map. However, as he continued to gaze, they started to appear more familiar.

  Kaiser called out, "Glunko," with an air of intrigue in his voice. From his position at the head of the vehicle, the merchant pivoted.

  "What are these scribbles in the capital?" Kaiser finished his question

  Glunko grinned, as though he’d been waiting for Kaiser to ask. “Ah, those aren’t scribbles, my friend. Those are names.” Leaning over Kaiser's shoulder, he slipped from his perch and stepped inside the wagon. In an instant, the map started to shift as he forcefully pressed his palm onto the scroll's surface.

  As the capital city came into sharp focus, the whole continent dwindled away. The city, which had already taken up much of the bigger map, now filled the whole scroll. Within the capital itself, the names of towns, villages, and even smaller districts were apparent, as Kaiser had seen them earlier.

  In an instant, Kaiser was paralyzed and gasped for air. As he tried to make sense of what he was seeing, his gaze jumped from name to name. "Are these... cities?" he whispered.

  Glunko chuckled, leaning back with a satisfied nod. “Not cities, exactly. But districts, villages, and neighborhoods, sure. The capital is more than just one place—it’s a world of its own. Bigger than any other structure, they say.”

  “Greater than a continent”. The words reverberated in Kaiser's thoughts as his pulse quickened. He had spent his whole life learning the whereabouts of towns in his former world through studying maps. He was familiar with their dimensions. After all, he was a former general and strategist. He was familiar with mapmaking.

  And yet, here he was, staring at a single city—one city—that was larger than the entire continent he had once fought in.

  He extended his hand, tracing the elliptical walls of the capital, and his hand quivered ever so slightly. The words "This... this can't be possible" from his lips as he hardly spoke.

  Glunko tilted his head. “Why not? It’s been here for longer than anyone can remember. The heart of the world, they call it.”

  Kaiser barely heard him. His mind was racing, piecing together the implications of what he was seeing. If this city alone was so vast, then the entire continent... the entire world...

  The realization hit him all at once, the weight of it like a stone in his chest. The world wasn’t just large. It was enormous. Vast. Ten times—no, maybe fifteen times—larger than the one he had known. Every landmark, every city, every forest on this map was a titan compared to what he was used to.

  “How could a world like this even exist?” he whispered.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The scroll’s voice hummed softly in response, as if acknowledging his awe. Laughing, Glunko peered back from his seat at the head of the caravan.

  “Overwhelming, isn’t it?” he said, his voice light. “I had the same reaction the first time I saw that scroll. Makes you feel small, doesn’t it?”

  The shaking fingers of Kaiser's hand traced the perimeter of the world’s capital as he continued to stare at the map. How can something this large even exist? Everything he had ever learned about scale and logic was rendered useless by it.

  A familiar cold, though, started to creep up his spine as his breathing became faster and his eyes grew more focused. At his fingertips, frost developed, spreading outward like icy veins. Kaiser barely noticed the cold until it was too late.

  The magical surface of the scroll was consumed in a second as the frost raced ahead. The map's light shook erratically as ice webs tore through it, and then the scroll splintered into a shower of frost and parchment fragments, making a piercing, nearly painful sound.

  The carriage jolted slightly, and Glunko froze, his cheerful demeanor instantly replaced with one of shock and anger. He turned violently, his expression changing from something Kaiser hadn't expected the merchant to be capable of—sheer wrath.

  "What in the world are you doing?" Glunko snapped, his sharp bark cutting through the cramped quarters. As he stepped closer, his usual easygoing demeanor twisted with irritation, his voice edged with accusation. “How can a man like you, who carries himself like some grand figure, lack even the smallest ounce of self-control?”

  Kaiser said nothing. Unable to do so. The vision of the metropolis continued to dominate his thoughts, its immense size resonating in his head like a rhythm. His movements were immobile as he sat still, his breathing shallow and his gaze fixed on the fragments of the scroll. The words spoken by Glunko swept over him, their sound muted and distant, as if they were emanating from another world.

  “Kaiser!” Glunko’s shout finally snapped him back to reality. Kaiser drooped his head and looked up at the merchant who had a furious expression on his face. Glunko shook his head in an apparent attempt to calm himself after letting out a long, frustrated sigh. “Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath. “You’re like a fish out of water. Do you even know what you’ve just done? That scroll wasn’t just a map—it was priceless.”

  Kaiser tried to reply, but he couldn't think of anything to say. His motions were rigid and unstable as he merely stood. Sitting silently next to where Glunk was, in the carriage's front seat, he kept his gaze fixed on the road ahead. Even though he felt a little grounded when the night air brushed against his face, the tempest in his head would not subside.

  Glunko eyed him warily, his frustration still evident, though his anger was beginning to cool. “You really are something else,” he whispered under his breath as he shook his head once more. “You destroy something invaluable and then sit here like a lost pup.”

  Kaiser cracked his lips and spoke softly and distantly after a long, heavy quiet. "A city... larger than an entire continent."

  As his initial annoyance faded into something more reflective, Glunko sat motionless in response to the words. His face softened as he slowly exhaled. “I suppose,” he said after a moment, “that it must be hard to grasp for someone who’s never seen or heard of such a thing before.”

  Kaiser looked over at Glunko, his wide, troubled eyes. "It's not just difficult to understand," he whispered. "It's just not possible."

  Glunko studied him for a moment before sighing again, this time with a note of resignation. “My friend, you need to start making sense of it. Because the capital isn’t just big—it’s the heart of this world. If you want to survive here, you’re going to need to understand it.”

  Kaiser said nothing. As the carriage continued its journey, he did nothing except sit quietly, burdened by the weight of the information. The chill of the frozen air still lingered faintly, but neither man spoke for several minutes.

  Finally, Glunko broke the short silence with a heavy sigh. “I don’t understand you,” he muttered, shaking his head.

  Still seeming faraway, Kaiser stole a quick glimpse in his direction. “You don't understand?”

  "You," Glunko said while making an oblique gesture toward Kaiser. “You seem to materialize out of thin air, as if you were a relic from another era. You seem to have seen it all, yet you pretend as though the world as it is right now is a profound discovery. And then—then!—you destroy a priceless artifact like it’s nothing. How am I supposed to make sense of that?”

  Kaiser was slow to answer. Allowing himself to be somewhat soothed by the gentle swaying of the carriage, he relaxed back. "I'm attempting to comprehend it on my own," he confessed with a little pause. "This isn't the world I lived in, not what I expected."

  Glunko snorted. “Not what you expected? What were you expecting, exactly? A city that fit neatly into your old frame of reference? A map you could fold up and put in your pocket?”

  Kaiser cracked a small smile to himself. "Perhaps something along those lines."

  “Well, welcome to reality.” Glunko remarked, his tone betraying his continued displeasure. “Nothing here is neat and tidy; this isn't a charming little kingdom. The world is big, messy, and completely unforgiving. You’d better get used to that fast.”

  Kaiser looked solemn as he turned to Glunko. “You said the capital’s been here for over five hundred years. That means that it’s older than anything from my past…” He paused, his brow furrowing. “Do you think it’ll still be here in another five hundred years?”

  Glunko glanced at him sideways, his anger subsiding once again. “If the capital falls, the whole world will go with it. That’s how it’s always been. It’s not just a city, it’s a symbol, a reminder of what’s survived, no matter how many kingdoms have crumbled around it. If there is one certainty in this life, it’s that the capital will remain as it always has.”

  Kaiser reluctantly nodded, his thoughts continuing to race. "The places marked with skulls, the seas full of monsters... does anyone even know what’s out there?”

  Then Glunko shrugged. "Some do. Some don’t. The world’s too big for anyone to know it all. But people like me, we piece together what we can: stories, maps, relics. That’s how we keep moving forward.”

  Kaiser looked down at his hands, his fingers flexing slightly as if testing the frost that had erupted from them earlier. “I don’t belong here,” he said quietly, almost to himself.

  Glunko chuckled dryly. “There have been others before you, and there will be those after you, who have all felt the same way. However, you are present at this very moment. And whether you like it or not, you’ve got to find a way to make it work.”

  Kaiser looked up at him, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Is that what you’ve done? Found a way to ‘make it work?’”

  Glunko grinned, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “More or less. It’s not about belonging, Kaiser. It’s about surviving. And if you’re smart, you’ll stick close to me, because I know how to survive.”

  For the first time since their conversation began, Kaiser let out a small chuckle. “You sound like a salesman.”

  “Good,” Glunko said, leaning back with a smirk. “Because I am.”